


Into the Verse

by michellichand



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang (Avatar)-centric, Avatar, Fire Nation (Avatar), Gen, Minor Aang/Katara, POV Aang (Avatar), Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:22:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25303018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/michellichand/pseuds/michellichand
Summary: Aang meets a man who claims he can see into different universes. One-shot.Set between Southern Raiders and the Ember Island Players.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	Into the Verse

Aang smiled as Sokka’s eyes flew from his grin to the pamphlet and then back to his now uneasy grin. He watched as the older boy peered over every word, his eyes narrowing more and more, until they settled on a vaguely annoyed shape. “Please tell me you don’t believe this is real, Aang.” Sokka muttered, handing the pamphlet back to the dejected Avatar.

“It’s not that I don’t believe it…” Aang replied, waving the pamphlet as he followed Sokka back into the Fire Lord’s beach house. “… it’s more that I don’t not believe it! C’mon, Sokka, it could be true!”

“What could be true?” Came a voice from the courtyard, and the two stopped near an open door to turn towards Toph, who was lounging on the ground, one leg crossed over the other. “Sokka’s little screams whenever he sees a bug in his room?”

“I don’t—” Sokka pinched the bridge of his nose. “—that’s not what I’m screaming about.”

“It definitely is. He hates it when they crawl into his sleeping bag.” Katara added, walking up to the two from the corridor, peering over Aang’s shoulder. “What’s this now?”

“It’s a pamphlet I found by one of the local markets.” Aang explained, walking out into the courtyard. “Don’t worry, I was wearing a disguise.” He said (mostly to a worried Katara) before continuing. “Says here that this man can see into different realms.”

Toph let out a cackle, whilst Katara just raised an eyebrow and motioned at the pamphlet. “Can I read it?” She asked, and Aang quietly handed the pamphlet over to her. “The Magnificent Maru. Have you ever wondered what your life is like in other realms? Come, see me, and you shall find out. Don’t you already do that, Aang? You’re the bridge between the human and the spirit world.”

“This is different. It’s not the spirit world, it’s different realms!” Aang exclaimed. “Worlds that look just like ours except for tiny little differences.”

“Like a world where Sokka isn’t scared of bugs?”

Sokka spun around on his heels and glared down at Toph. “If you knew what I was screaming at, you’d be screaming too yourself.”

She stuck a finger inside her nose and shrugged. “Doubt it.”

“Why do you want to talk to this guy, Aang?” Katara asked, trying to avoid looking at Toph’s disgusting behavior.

Aang breathed in, looked around and then rubbed the back of his neck. “Curiosity? I mean… wouldn’t you want to know what your life is like in other worlds?”

Another laugh, once more from Toph. “And that’s how you know it’s a scam. Take someone’s curiosity and exploit it.” Toph flicked something away from her nose, and Katara rolled her eyes. “Save yourself, Twinkletoes. That guy’s just going to lie straight to your face.”

“Thank you!” Sokka exclaimed. “See, at least someone here agrees with me… though not for the same reasons. Aang, there’s no such thing as other realms, whatever that means.”

Aang smiled. “There is the spirit world.” 

Sokka smiled right back. “You just said that was a different thing.”

The airbender frowned, shoving the pamphlet in his pocket. “Okay, maybe it sounds a little bit dumb…”

“Don’t say that, Aang.” Katara muttered, placing her hand on his shoulder. “I don’t think he’s lying.”

“Of course you’d believe in him.” Sokka rolled his eyes. “This is that whole fortuneteller thing all over again!”

“Is this another funny adventure I wasn’t here for?” Toph groaned from the middle of the courtyard, rolling to her side and facing away from the group. “Whatever. I don’t care about them.”

“The fortuneteller did get one thing right, Sokka.” Aang turned to his friend, shrugging. “She said your life would be filled with self-inflicted pain, remember?”

Toph rolled back, now grinning. “Actually, tell me more.”

“Ha-ha-ha.” Sokka snapped at Toph and turned back to Aang. “That’s a classic trick. She just said something super vague that could happen to anyone. That’s what this guy is going to do to you. Whereas people like me will always be super specific, because we are men of science! For example, I’m not scared of bugs.” He growled in Toph’s direction. “I’m just wary that there might be a scorpion fly somewhere inside the house. And as we all know, the sting of a scorpion fly is mighty dangerous. That’s why I always wake up whenever I sense their presence!”

“Sure.” Toph grinned. “But that doesn’t explain the screams.”

As Sokka stomped his way towards a cackling Toph, Katara subtly stood besides Aang, placing her hands behind her back. “To be fair, I have seen a lot of weird stuff happen to you. Who’s to say different realms can’t be real?”

“Exactly! I have a bunch of past Avatars within me, after all.” Aang smiled triumphantly, before shrugging again and staring at the pamphlet. “Then again… he’s asking for quite a lot of money.”

“Just say you’re gonna pay and then not do it!” Toph sighed. “Gee, Twinkletoes, have we not taught you anything?”

“I’m not gonna do that!” Aang yelled back. “I just need to know you guys’ opinion. Should I do it or should I not do it?” He looked over his group, and saw that it had been split three ways- Katara gave him a hearty nod, Sokka just shook his head vigorously and Toph wasn’t paying attention anymore. Luckily, at that same moment, Zuko walked out of the beach house, washing his face with a damp towel. “Zuko! Zuko! We need your opinion!”

By the time he lowered the towel, Zuko would come face to face with all three of his newfound compatriots staring right into his eyes, waiting for him to answer (with Toph, again, just laying down in the background digging at something inside her ear). “Oh, no.” He shook his head. “I’m not doing this.” He turned around and promptly walked back inside without saying another word.

Silence reigned over the group. “I think that’s a yes!” Aang chirped happily.

* * *

The group found Magnificent Maru’s tent on the off skirts of one of the local markets, surrounded by a couple of trees and handmade signs praising Maru’s magical powers. They were all ready to step inside together, until another sign made itself known: one hanging right on top of the tent’s entrance, announcing only one person could walk in at a time. Despite Toph’s warnings (which were just her yelling ‘scam’ through her cupped hands), Aang took a step inside, leaving the group to follow Sokka into the market so they could buy the necessary ingredients for scorpion fly repellent.

“We’ll meet you here later.” Katara warmly offered, giving Aang a brief but careful smile as he took his first steps into the tent.

Aang was at first thrown off by how big the tent actually was. From the outside, it seemed to be regular sized, with its back closer to the woods. But the inside was actually just a big as one of the rooms in the Fire Lord’s beach house. The walls were made up of purple fabric, and a myriad of trinkets, gems and stones were hanging from strings attached to the ceiling. The smell of incense invaded Aang’s nostrils immediately, and he had to hold in his breath until he got accustomed to it.

“Welcome!” A high-pitched voice squeaked, as a man walked in from the back of the tent. He was rather short- maybe about Toph’s height- with a stubby wrinkly nose, two beady black eyes and a grin that made him look like a hungry elephant rat. “I am the Marvelous Maru!” He announced, throwing down a bit of purple powder and creating a small dust cloud which he stepped through, striking in a pose in his exuberant purple robes that were one size too big and made him look even smaller. “Come! Come! Sit down!”

“I thought you were the Magnificent Maru.” Aang offered, sitting down cross-legged and making sure his pointy hat was covering his tattoo.

“I have many names,” Maru hissed, twirling his fingers in front of his face. “All of them majestic! But enough about me… let’s talk about you. You are here to see your other lives, yes?” He asked, holding out a hand. “I may need some… help… convincing the spirits of fate to show me their ways.”

“What would spirits do with money?” Aang asked, raising an eyebrow.

Without missing a beat, Maru’s grin grew wider. “The same thing we mortals do: absolutely nothing of worth.” He wiped some invisible sweat off his brow. “I suppose they enjoy the sight. I presume the glint of precious metal helps them pass the time.” His hand went up again.

Maybe it was a scam. Even so, Aang couldn’t help but giggle. The man was at least entertaining, and that was enough for him to hand over the couple of coins the pamphlet had asked for.

Coins in his hand, Maru clapped his hands loudly, raising them up to the sky. “And now, let the spirits guide our journey to other realms!” He announced to the skies, as he slid the coins into his pocket and began lighting candle after candle with one of the incenses. “Tell me, young man…” He said in a sing-song voice. “… why are you here?”

The smell of the incense made Aang sputter for a moment. “I, uh—” He held back a sneeze. “— I want to find out about my life on other realms, like you said.”

“But why?” Maru sat right in front of Aang, lighting a truly repugnant incense and placing it in between the two.

Aang couldn’t concentrate on an answer. “I…” He wrinkled his nose, closed his eyes, trying as hard as possible not to sneeze. “… I don’t… k-know.”

“Yes, you do.” Maru said, his voice suddenly getting serious. The man’s grin slowly turned into a cautiously curious smile as he leaned forward. “Let it out.”

“I-I don’t think t-that’s the best—”

“Let it out!”

Aang threw his head back and breathed in, ready to deliver the sneeze to end all sneezes. “AAAAAAH--” His body rocked forward, and a gust of wind blew out of his mouth, sending him flying backwards… into the ground. Wait, what? It took a moment for Aang to open his eyes again and realize that he was now floating away from his body, flying backwards thanks to his mighty sneeze. His body was stuck in time, mid-sneeze. It was funny, if not slightly freaky.

“How are you…” 

Maru suddenly appeared, floating alongside Aang. “Worry not, young man, what you see today will remain only in your head. You see, I am not really here. I am still there, waiting for you to finish.” He pointed at his frozen body, currently in the middle of being blown back by Aang’s sneeze. “Oof. That looks like it’s going to hurt. But until then, I am here to guide you through your journey…” He reached out for Aang’s wrist. “… into other realms.”

Aang watched as Maru’s fingers wrapped across his wrist. He felt nothing at first, but then his body- his floating spirit?- was pulled forward, flying through the tent, into a sky filled with so many stars. As he soared past each star, he noticed how they weren’t stars at all, but rather different tents, with different Aang’s, all of them mid-sneeze, all of them stuck in space. 

He screeched to a halt before Maru’s grinning mug. “You didn’t answer me. Why are you here?”

“I g-guess I was just curious.” Aang explained. “I didn’t know you were real. How are you doing this?”

“Magnificent Maru doesn’t tell his secrets.” Maru leaned in. “But you must give me the real answer. What was behind your curiosity?”

“I…” The airbender stopped, thinking about why he had picked up the pamphlet in the first place. He threw himself back to that moment, not a few hours ago, and remembered why he had visited the market in the first place.

_“Sooner or later,” Zuko had told him in the middle of their training session. “You’re going to have to face my Father.”_

Aang had offered him a half-hearted excuse and ended the training right there and then. He didn’t want to think about the Fire Lord. About the fight to come. About how he had to save the world. He didn't even want to think about it, about having to make a choice, about the fact he was the only one who could make that choice. That’s why he had run off to the market, to be alone. That’s why he had stumbled onto the pamphlet. That’s why he had been curious in the first place.

“The weight of responsibility is too much for one child to bear.” Maru mused, sighing. When Aang looked at him, confused, he just pointed at the airbender’s head. “I’m in your mind, remember?”

“But I’m not a kid.” Aang replied, looking away. “I’m the Avatar. It’s my duty.”

“And does that ease the weight off your back?”

Silence.

“I see.” Maru nodded. “Then let us see the other you’s.”

Aang’s spirit rocked forward, and the two zoomed across the starry sky, stopping right before another Aang, also frozen mid-sneeze. This one looked different. Older. He hadn’t shaved his hair too. And whereas the other Aang’s seemed to be enjoying their conversation to Maru, this one was actively seething. Aang had never seen such anger. Especially not on his face.

“This one isn’t afraid.” Maru offered. “But he has seen so much.”

“I’m not afraid.” Aang replied. “I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to.” The older man shook his head. “This Aang has no fear. The Fire Nation took it from him. But his lack of fear allowed them to take so much more. Look closer.” Maru pointed at a Water Tribe pendant hanging from the other Aang’s neck. “A gift from a betrothed, turned into a haunting memento.”

“Katara?” Aang gasped, clutching his own throat. “She can’t…”

“There are many worlds, young man. So many things could have happened in these worlds. Here—”

They flew away again, but Aang kept his eyes locked onto the other Aang, the angrier one. He wished nothing but peace for him. And he feared that one day he would become like him. Powered by anger. It reminded him of— Zuko? Aang had to lean in to get a better look, but yes, that was a version of him bearing a scar not too different from Zuko’s. This time, his fingers flew over his eyes.

“—in this one, she gave that to him.” Maru explained. “In this world, your enemies are your companions.”

Those words shook Aang out of his shock. He looked over at Maru and narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying…”

“There is a world where the Princess you fear is actually the one who found you. And the one who found you is the Princess you fear.”

The airbender let out a chuckle of disbelief at that. The thought of Azula being his friend… every time he closed his eyes, he could only imagine her rage-filled eyes, soaring towards him, a stray lightning bolt aimed squarely at his back, a satisfied smile dripping with viciousness. To imagine those same eyes, by his side, caring for him? It was an odd thought. It made him curious. He almost envied this other Aang, though he didn’t know why. Was it because he didn’t have to live in fear of Azula? Or was it because he had a chance to be friends with Azula, instead of having to fight her?

But another one of Maru’s words put an end to his daydreaming. “In this world, Katara is my enemy?”

“Your most dreaded one.” He confirmed.

Aang turned away from that scarred Aang, shaking his head. “I don’t… I don’t want to see that.” He glanced at Maru. “Sorry.”

“No, I apologize. I forgot what you actually wanted to see.” Maru bowed, and in that bow, the two flew across the starry sky once more. This time, they stopped at a tent without an Aang. In this tent… there was Katara, eagerly holding onto Maru’s each words, frozen in time. “This?”

“No, I…” Aang shook his head. “Thank you for showing me a world where she’s safe. But where’s me?”

“I don’t understand.” Maru smiled. “That is you. Not you, the young man known as Aang. But you, the Avatar.”

Maru waved his hand, and a series of tents spread out in front of Aang in a fan-like pattern. In each one, he saw his friends, all of them frozen with the same expression. He saw a Zuko without scars, a Sokka with tattoos, a Toph wearing airbender garb, a Suki wearing waterbender’s clothes, he even saw an Azula that had the same expression as him. Everywhere he looked, hundreds of different people spread out before him. Some whom he recognized, some whom he had never seen before in his life. All of them felt eerily familiar, from the man with the dark hair and even darker expression, to the dark-skinned woman with a defiant look on her face. “Who… are these?”

“Other Avatars.” Maru placed his hands behind his back. “More precisely, they’re other people who could have been the Avatar, had you not been chosen. Yes, in other worlds, you are not the Avatar. In other worlds, you do not carry this weight.”

“Then where am I?”

“Somewhere else. In some of these, you are long dead, for you have lived a full life in a secluded temple. In others, you are the Avatar’s friend, offering guidance and counsel without the burden of responsibility. In a few, you have never existed, but your soul has found another vessel, and you have lived a life of joy. Never once fearing for your life. Never once pondering the fate of the world.”

Aang’s eyes dazed from person to person, each of them wearing the same look he had on his face the moment he chose to step into the tent: a look of pure uncertainty, of dreading what is to come. Maybe some of these didn’t have to face off against a Fire Lord. But all of them had a choice to make, a decision looming on the horizon.

And yet, none of these were him. For the first time in what seemed like months, Aang looked at his reflections and didn’t see the the distress, the anxiety… the doubt.

His imagination soared, enticed by Maru’s words. What if he had gotten a chance to live at the temple, like his family, like his friends? What if he had gotten a chance to just have a normal life?

What if he never had to worry about the Fire Lord?

“Is this what you want?”

Aang opened his eyes and looked over at Maru. From his point of view, the old man seemed like a spirit, translucent and with slightly glowing eyes. But it might have been just his imagination.

“What?” He muttered weakly.

“Is this what you want, Avatar?” Maru’s smile disappeared for the first time since Aang had met him. Now, there was only a serious quietness on his lips. “Is this what you desire?”

Aang turned his eyes back to the many not-hims. He scanned them once more.

“You can have it, Avatar. If you want it.”

His eyes flew over the many unknowns. The other people who’d have to bear his burden.

“All you need to do is ask.”

But then, his eyes stopped. He saw Katara. The only Katara in this group. He saw her. And gone from her eyes was the kindness he had come to love. In its place was only… worry. He looked at Zuko’s eyes. The same worry. He looked at Toph’s eyes. She didn’t seem like the joking kind. And Sokka looked like he was too busy worrying to ever think about anything else. “I can’t.” Aang shook his head. “I’m sorry, Maru. I can’t.”

“You can’t give your weight to them?” Maru asked silently. “They would never know you made this choice.”

“That’s not what matters.” Aang reached over to the frozen Katara, to caress her cheeks. Even though both of them were non-corporeal, it was almost as if he could feel her warmth. “I would know. And I would never forget… that I had a chance to fight and give them the one thing I never had."

He breathed in and out, smiling. "It’s scary, but… I’d rather deal with this fear myself than force someone to do it.” He whispered, looking over at Maru… only to realize Maru had disappeared. “Maru? Maru where are- CHOOOOOOOOO!”

Aang rocked backwards, tumbling into one of the tent’s walls, blown back by the power of his own sneeze. He moved the pointy hat away from his face and looked around, realizing that he had returned to the tent… and that he had practically destroyed it with some accidental airbending. He spotted Maru, who landed on his head, wrapped up in a bunch of his own trinkets. “Maru!” He said, standing up, and taking a moment to get used to the feeling of being corporeal once more (he had some training, since it felt rather similar to what he had gone through whenever visiting the spirit world).

“Stay away from me!” Maru squeaked like a squirrel toad, pointing at Aang. “I don’t know what you just did, but that was not a magnificent way of reacting to my charmingly inoffensive incense!”

“W-what?” The airbender pointed at himself. “But you showed me— the other realms! We were floating through the sky!”

“I did no such thing!” Maru struggled to unwrap himself from his tickets, the string pressing into his face. “I lit up an incense, you suddenly sneezed and now you’re here!”

“But you…” Aang stopped himself, remembering what Maru had meant by it all being on his head. But that didn’t stop him from letting his frown give way to a big grand smile. “Thank you, Maru! Thank you for the help! I mean, you didn’t fix my problem, but now… now I feel that there might be a way, and that I might be the one to find it!” He reached over and gave Maru a great big hug, spinning him around so the strings would let go of him. “Thank you, thank you!”

* * *

“I sure hope this works.” Sokka muttered, looking at his pouch filled with scorpion fly repellent goo as they waited for Aang to leave the tent.

“Yeah, we’re all getting tired of listening to your little screams at night.” Toph added with a smirk.

Before Sokka could reply, Aang strode out of the tent, with a smile as beaming as the setting sun above them. Before any of them could say a single word, he rushed forward, enveloping all of them into a great big hug (much to Toph’s chagrin, who tried to worm her way out of it). “If this is your way of saying sorry for not listening to your scam warnings, I gotta say this is a really weird way to do it!”

“Did you get what you wanted?” Katara asked as Aang eased up on the hug.

The airbender smiled even more. “I think I’ve had it all along. Let’s go home… I’m pretty sure Zuko is angry I’m missing my evening training.” He chuckled, and motioned for the group to follow him as he took the path back to the Fire Lord’s beach house.

“Wait, so we didn’t need to come here after all?” Sokka hissed, throwing his hands up. “Alright, from now on, no more picking up random pamphlets and taking us on these weird little adventures!”

“We’ll do that if you stop screaming, Scream Queen.” Toph sneered.

“That’s not— I DON’T SCREAM!” Sokka screamed, prompting the entire group to laugh.

In that moment, Aang looked up at Katara's eyes. There was no worry, no fear, no weight. And somehow, he felt the weight on his back getting a little bit lighter.


End file.
